


Only if for a Night

by Emeli_Thorne



Series: Send a Pic, Get a Fic prompts [4]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Kastle AU, Light Smut, Love Confessions, mentions of Frank's family and Ben, undercover cop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 09:05:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15215801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emeli_Thorne/pseuds/Emeli_Thorne
Summary: Someone is following her.Karen can feel their eyes at the back of her neck, though she can’t hear any footsteps except her own as she hastily trudges towards her apartment, her boots echoing the streets.Who could it be?She was sure no one was onto her. She’d taken every possible precaution.And yet...





	Only if for a Night

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr prompt by @officialpunisher
> 
> Part of my [send a pic, get a fic concept](http://lightblindingme.tumblr.com/post/175546539144) of writing fics for the month of July

 

 

 

 

 

Someone is following her.

Karen can feel their eyes at the back of her neck, though she can’t hear any footsteps except her own as she hastily trudges towards her apartment, her boots echoing the streets. The harsh wind slays her sensitive face, her chapped lips start to burn when she traces her tongue over them. Her ears are red from the cold as are her hands, even though she’s got them clad in leather gloves.

_Who could it be?_

She was sure no one was onto her. She’d taken every possible precaution.

And yet...

From her peripheral vision, Karen notes there’s no one around. Granted, it is pretty late, but it’s goddamn New York – the city that never sleeps. All this silence feeds her growing uneasiness, acidic bile rising in her throat.

Dim streetlights create shadows that mix with the fog, making it hard to discern reality from apparition. The ends of her coat hit the back of her knees with every step she takes, making her jump a few times out of fear someone’s grabbing her.

Her pace quickens, heart thudding so loudly in her head she can’t hear anything else. With every breath she can sense danger approaching.

_Closer, closer, closer._

She’s ready.

Stopping, she pretends to be unlocking the iron gates when a figure emerges from the dark.

Before they even get the chance of touching her, Karen has them pushed against the wall, a switchblade pressed against their throat, another one pointed right against their side. Bearing her teeth, Karen looks them right in the eyes.

It takes seconds for the haze in her mind to clear up and for her to realise who the person before her is.

“Jesus Christ, Frank!” she hisses, the rage and fear behind her blue eyes subsiding, her posture relaxing.

Hands lifted up in defence, Frank gives her a weak smile, “Yeah.”

The switchblades disappear as fast as they appeared and she takes a step back. Inhaling sharply, Karen nervously looks around for any unwelcoming face.

Frank takes a step towards her, his bruised hand slowly reaching for her arm, eyes pleading her to look at him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” her voice is harsh and commanding, her hands, hidden in her coat pockets, covering the tremors.

Frank mimics her behaviour from a few moments ago, eyes scanning their surroundings. Not that there is anything to be seen amidst the thick fog and barely lit neighbourhood. Being like this, in the open, makes him tense; he’s expecting one of _his_ goons to be tailing Karen. He didn’t see anyone earlier, but who knows.

Lacing his hand with hers, Frank searches her face for any information. “Murdock said you didn’t check in at all today. I got worried.”

Huffing, Karen looks around one more time, teeth gnawing at her lower lip, gaze unsteady.

“Christ. Did anyone follow you?”

“No, Karen. I made sure.”

Karen swallows the lump in her throat and pulls him behind her, “Come on.”

Through a long, dark hallway, up three flights of stairs then to the left. Last door, by the fire exit.

The door is opened and Frank is shoved inside before Karen slams the door shut and turns all four locks she has on them. Leaning her forehead against it, she closes her eyes and tries to steady her heartbeat, tries to get her breathing under control.

When she turns around, Frank’s gaze is set firmly on her, worry painted clear on his face.

“Karen.”

Her name from his lips sounds like a prayer and before she even realises, Karen is throwing herself in his arms, ignoring how her damn coat and his thick jacket make hugging him an arduous endeavour, yet she persists.

“God, I missed you so much,” she mumbles in his icy cheek, her own voice sounding so foreign to her. A sobs escapes her, then another and then she’s crying in his strong embrace. Exhaustion and omnipresent fear have drained her body and the dam she’s built to keep it all at bay has one too many cracks.

“Why didn’t you-” Frank starts after awhile, but Karen already knows where he’s going with this.

Pulling back, she starts taking off her coat and gloves, followed by her boots. Frank does the same, hanging his jacket on one of the chairs by the bed.

Walking up to him, Karen pushes him down on the bed, her hands already lifting his sweater to take it off. “I couldn’t. Wesley was on me the whole day.” A kiss on his beard, then his lips, on the bridge of his nose before Frank takes off his sweater, tossing it somewhere on the floor. Karen’s hands waste no time in exploring his hard body, nails grazing his sides making him squirm. “A new shipment’s coming, he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. They’ve increased the manpower on the docks too.”

A grunt is the only sign that lets her know Frank heard what she said, then it’s all wet kisses and entangled limbs as they both surrender to each other.

It’s been months since they last saw each other, Karen overly cautious to ever allow them to meet. Their superiors, being in the dark about their relationship, would be too suspicious if Frank ever expressed such zeal over seeing his fellow officer.

Frank respects her decisions, respects the job they swore their lives to especially because he cares about her safety. But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t think of appearing like this much, much sooner simply because he can’t sleep, worry eating away at him.

Her clothes are discarded along with the rest of his.

Her tongue is pressed against his clavicle, hands rubbing his chest. His fingers grip her hips firmer this time, savouring the contrast between his calloused hands and her soft, smooth skin.

When he pushes his cock inside her, Frank groans so loudly that Karen has to shut him up by shoving her tongue in his mouth, their teeth clashing. Her breasts brush against him sending jolts of arousal through his body, down to his cock.

She’s wet and slick and oh, god, so hot. She feels like home and heaven and death all wrapped up in one lethal woman and Frank lets himself get lost in her, knowing she’s here in his arms.

*       *      *      *      *

It’s an hour later and Frank has already counted and recounted every bruise, cut and the smallest of scrapes on her, adding it to his list of things he hated Fisk for. His blood is hot and wild in his veins, but for her, Frank pushes it away for now.

“You doin’ okay?” It’s an empty question but he needs to hear her answer.

Snuggled into his side, fingers tracing his scars, Karen assures him that she is. It’s just tiresome, this whole operation. Being apart.

Her golden hair tickles his nose and Frank laughs – he missed this too.

“Karen,” he finally says, “I’m worried. Maybe, maybe we should pull you out now.” He sounds unsure to his own ears.

Karen sits up abruptly, her brows furrowed, anger and determination overcoming her features. "What? No, Frank! We’re this close to nailing Fisk and his accomplices for everything!”

He stares at her, eyes tracing her face then her beautiful naked body that minutes ago led him into delirium.

He’s speechless for a moment, his gaze lingering on a pretty nasty bruise on her upper arm.

“Karen-”

She’s unyielding. “I need to see this through.” Her voice then goes low, gentle, “For Ben. For Maria, for Lisa and Frankie. Fisk is gonna pay for taking them from us.”

Sitting up, Frank stares at her defeated, the wound on his heart starting to bleed again. Noticing this, Karen cups his face, nose brushing against his, her lashes fluttering lightly as her gaze softens.

Here, in his arms, she feels safe and protected, and allows herself to forget about everything else except for the man holding her and his warm presence.

“I don’t want you to get hurt. I couldn’t –I can’t stand losing you too.”

There, he finally said it out loud.

Ever since Karen accepted to go undercover in Fisk’s criminal organization a year ago, there had been this lingering fear in his soul that he would lose her too, just like he lost his family. Frank knows he could never survive that.

Losing his family almost killed him, but meeting Karen, getting to know her gave him a new hope.

She is the last thread holding him alive and if anything happens to her...

His thoughts are interrupted when Karen hugs him tightly, more tightly than when they first got into her apartment, that it makes him think she can read this thoughts, feel this anxiety anchoring him to this moment, her bed, them.

“You won’t lose me, Frank. I’ll be careful.”

He can’t do anything else but hold her and kiss her and pray to the god he stopped believing in to guard his angel or he would wake the devil in him.

*          *          *        *         *

They say goodbye on the threshold of her apartment, several hours later. They didn’t get any sleep, spending the time talking and making love and even crying.

“I love you, Karen.”

He finally tells her, because god know when he’s going to see her again, when this operation is going to be over. She needs to know, he needs her to know.

Her bright eyes go wide, then she takes his hands and kisses them, a single tear falling on his scabbed knuckle.

“I love you too. It’s just a few more months, then it’s over.”

His hand brushes a strand of her hair off her face, then cradles her cheek. “Promise?”

She nods, thought they both know there are no certainties.

“I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comment on the fic, it really makes my day.
> 
> If you want, you can leave a prompt for this series on my tumblr or here in the comments.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at lightblindingme :D


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